Mantra Chain raises $11 million led by UAE Shorooq partners as it closes in on VARA license

Mantra Chain raises $11 million led by UAE Shorooq partners as it closes in on VARA license

MANTRA Chain a Layer 1 blockchain for real world tokenization, has raised $11 million led by UAE based Shorooq Partners with investors including Three-point capital, Forte Securities, VirtuZone, Hex Trust and GameFi Ventures. The news which was published in Coindesk stated, that Mantra Chain was in the final stages of receiving licenses from Dubai’s crypto regulator, VARA.

John Patrick Mullin told CoinDesk, “These approvals will be essential in MANTRA’s plans to build and host a suite of compliance-minded tools for issuing and trading RWAs.”

MANTRA’s network isn’t yet live, meaning no one can issue or trade RWAs quite yet. But it is planned for Cosmos, a network of closely linked albeit independent blockchains. Cosmos doesn’t yet have a designated so-called app-chain for trading tokenized RWAs, according to MANTRA’s documents.

Once live MANTRA will focus on the “crypto native” crowd, which is to say, the people already familiar with crypto, decentralized exchanges, on-chain borrowing and lending and so-forth.

Earlier this week, Layer 1 blockchain, MANTRA had announced that it has applied for a license in both the UAE and HongKong as it aims towards making real world asset tokenization mainstream. MANTRA’s layer1 blockchain, known as MANTRA Chain, is designed to facilitate the issuance and trading of tokenized RWAs. MANTRA is on a mission to onboard financial organizations and other commercial enterprises that seek to tap into the many benefits tokenized RWAs have to offer.

MintLayer to tokenize realestate assets in UAE

MintLayer to tokenize realestate assets in UAE

UAE based MintLayer, a layer 2 blockchain that utilizes Dynamic Slot Allocation (DSA) consensus merging Proof-Of-Stake and Bitcoin technologies to make decentralized financial markets attack-proof,  will be launching its mainnet on January 29th 2024 and is planning tokenize real-estate assets starting from Dubai UAE.

Already MintLayer has received investments from a substantial number of venture capitalists including some residing in the UAE such as Phoenix crypto VC, Sheesha Finance, Varys Capital and others.

Zaid Ismail Chief Operations officer at MintLayer, based out of Dubai UAE, on LinkedIn states,“ 90% of the world’s millionaires made their fortunes through real estate, but it’s highly inaccessible, illiquid, and complicated – that’s where MintLayer comes in! Starting with Dubai, we are on a mission to fractionalize real estate ownership one country at a time.”

In an interview on Bitcoin News, he discussed how tokenized real-world assets are an appealing portfolio for modern investors.

He told Bitcoin News that despite recently garnering much of the world’s attention, traditional exchange-traded funds (ETFs), including spot Bitcoin ETFs, are still inferior to tokenized real-world assets (RWA).

He added,” Tokenized RWAs also come with increased transparency, reduced costs, and direct ownership making them a more versatile and appealing choice for modern investors seeking portfolio diversification.”

He notes in the interview that traditional finance institutions are also starting to get involved in tokenized RWAs. They are testing the waters and will need to work with regulators to adapt existing regulations to the changing landscape.

Ismail emphasizes that with MintLayer the process is simplified, reducing hassles for asset owners. With MintLayer, tokenization is embedded and simple, so non-technical users can issue tokens easily without having to use deployment contracts like on Ethereum.

Additionally, Mintlayer Institutional is building a SaaS platform for institutional clients that will help to simplify the process of issuing, monitoring and dealing with all the compliance aspects required for tokenization.

The MintLayer network, and its UTXO infrastructure, allows batching multiple transactions into a single one, saving space and lowering the fees. Furthermore, their HTLC smart contract embedded in MintLayer will allow atomic swaps and lightning network integration, allowing a way to route transactions on a peer-to-peer network that doesn’t require it to be permanently saved forever on the blockchain.

Mintlayer has a  low node requirements are pivotal in fostering a more inclusive and decentralized network allowing anyone with a standard PC, or even a Raspberry Pi, can run a node is a testament to the democratization of blockchain technology.

Pave Bank, digital bank seeks regulatory license in UAE

Pave Bank, digital bank seeks regulatory license in UAE

Pave Bank, digital bank for businesses to transact in stablecoins, Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), and tokenized Real World Assets (RWAs) is seeking regulatory license in UAE as it expands its operations to MENA.

Pave Bank, an approved digital banking license from Georgia and a US$5.2M seed funding round led by 468 Capital with participation from Quona Capital, FT Partners, BR Capital, w3.fund, Daedalus and angel investors has launched.

Pave Bank is the world’s first fully regulated commercial bank where clients can not only get the best in class business banking products (such as multi-currency operating accounts, global payment connectivity, and treasury management solutions) but will also have access to multi-asset custody, virtual IBANs, safeguarding accounts and PaveNet, which is a multi-asset, always instant and always on network of Pave Bank customers.

Salim Dhanani, Co-Founder & CEO of Pave Bank commented: “We have set out to address limitations of today’s financial system that lacks transparency, remains restricted to certain time-windows (clearing and settlement, for example) and is riddled with intermediaries. All of this increases costs, management complexity and also limits the products and services which can be accessed by the majority of businesses and especially, for those operating globally. In parallel, we have seen a number of innovative products that have been created in the digital asset space, but sometimes with a lack of regulation and safety for users. We are championing a new path where Pave Bank customers will get access to the financial products that they are used to, but also a range of digital asset enabled products which will help them bank more efficiently within a regulated and secure environment.”

As programmability in financial services takes off, Pave Bank offers a fresh, secure and regulated platform for businesses to transact in stablecoins, Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), and tokenized Real World Assets (RWAs). Salim Dhanani added: “There are two major trends that led us to create Pave Bank. Firstly, blockchain is being integrated into the traditional financial system – with stablecoins, CBDCs included, and tokenized RWAs. We are seeing the financial system be built on new operating languages for the first time in over fifty years. Secondly, regulation is here, it’s here to stay, and for the better. We are seeing this narrative evolve around the world – in Singapore, Hong Kong, Georgia, UAE, UK, across the EU and the green shoots in the USA, amongst many others. As a fully regulated digital bank with a proprietary technology stack, we are right at the swell of the programmable financial system wave.”

Pave Bank has started the regulatory journey with a digital commercial banking license in Georgia and plans to continue to build its regulatory infrastructure globally. Georgia is strategically positioned between Europe, the Middle East and Asia, with close ties to the European Union. Its robust and transparent regulatory architecture has attracted a large number of businesses as it seeks to become a financial services hub in the region.